The Cathedrals of Placiplatitramitoris
by miellethegreat
Summary: River Song is a young, impressionable 3rd year archaeology student on her first real dig... when a strange man falls out of the sky and talks to her as if he knows her.


"All right guys, now this should be a good time, but it's hard work, not a vacation. I need to see good attitudes. Remember, we're lucky to get over here. The whispering cathedrals of Placiplatitramitoris are legend, and access is strictly restricted by the Placiplaxtine government." The teacher raised her voice so that it would carry to the twenty or so third-year archaeology students seated on the steps that led into the narthex of the main building in the ancient complex.

Two students chatted near the back.

"Out of the books and into the dirt. Pretty exciting, huh, River?" asked Mary-Anne.

"I definitely would've preferred to get out here sooner," River replied, sliding her pack off of her shoulders and onto the rough-hewn steps. "This should be interesting."

River Song gave the expansive compound an appraising glance. "Hopefully this isn't anything too straight-forward, you know?" She said, grinning. "I'd like a bit of adventure. Mystery. The reason I got into this field."

After the initial lectures, the group was subdued, murmuring to each other as they set up camp. For a moment, River thought she heard a faint, strange noise from somewhere in the church.

"Did you hear that?" she asked Mary-Anne, who was working nearby. "It was a bit like... ah, I can't really imitate it. 'Eeee-eee-eee' or something."

Mary-ann said "No," quizzically hiking her brow. But then, the great stone door of the church creaked open and a raggedy-looking man in a tweed jacket swaggered out onto the dais.

"All right, NOW!" he began, clapping his hands together to emphasize the word.

"I'm the Doctor, and the woman I need to see is…" He glanced across the crowd and caught a glimpse of River's distinctive curly blonde hair. He pointed.

"She's right _there!_" He pranced down the stairs to meet her.

The Doctor picked her up in an eager hug and swung her around. "RIVER SONG! It has been _far_._Too_. _Long_." He placed her back on her feet.

River stared at the stranger without attempting to hide her confusion.

"Do I… know you?" she asked.

"Ahhh you're a wit, you. Very funny. Already pulled that joke back on Tharnacospicus. Where are we now? Is this after the Mayan incident or before, for you? I suppose we can do diaries later. Because now! About these cathedrals. I have a hunch that we are all in rather grave danger. See, I've worked out... what's making them whisper isn't a structural thing at all, but a product of a rift between…" He paused, tilting his head to the side and looking intently at River.

"Wait. Just a minute—" He turned, and studied the face of River Song, his companion, his long-time love, the one who knew more about him than anyone else, dead or alive. She knew his name, but more than that, she knew _him, _ the very heart of him. And yet…

"River. You're so… young." He drew his hand up to touch her cheek, and looked into her eyes, wondering. "You are so, so, very young." He was conscious that this was what she had said to him, so many ages ago, across so many stars, when he met her for the first time in the Library. When she had died. His voice softened, barely above a whisper. "River, please, tell me you know me. Please, tell me you know who I am."

The heartbreak in his eyes made her wish that she did. But, she could not lie. "I'm so sorry, who are you? And what's this about Tharnacospicus?"

"Oh. Oh, River. I…" he fell silent, and looked to the ground. When he looked up again, a sad smile played on his lips, and he seemed to have aged a hundred years.

"I can't tell you, River. Spoilers." She couldn't tell what had triggered the hint of irony in his voice, but watched as he shook the sadness from his face and smiled wider.

"You'll know me one day. There will come a time when you'll trust me absolutely. But you've all that to come, and now" - He gestured haphazardly at the complex behind him - "for the task at hand. Spooky churches! Ms. Song, I'll be needing your help. And for the rest of you lot," he said, addressing the rather bewildered crowd of amateur archaeologists.

"Listen up, because there's a beastie around here and we're all in quite a lot of trouble. So! Here's the plan. Or, really, the general thrust of a rather vague proposition."

And to River, he said, "And you, _sweetie_, buckle in for quite the adventure."


End file.
